Managing director, capital markets Mark Strauss of Walker & Dunlop is a man with a triple mission: to raise $1 million for million for No Kid Hungry, to raise awareness of childhood hunger, and to complete a coast-to-coast bicycle ride at the same time. At 73 years old, Strauss will begin the 3,388-mile ride from coastal Corona del Mar in Southern California to the Delaware resort town of Rehoboth Beach on April 17, completing his journey 67 days later.
Food insecurity, and how to alleviate it, has been a longtime concern of Strauss, while cycling has been a lifelong passion. Although others have gone on bicycle journeys (a few hundred miles at most) to help end hunger, and there are cyclists who have pedaled across the entire U.S., Strauss acknowledges that he’s probably the first to combine the two, and certainly the first to do it on behalf of No Kid Hungry, a campaign of Share Our Strength.
“I’ve thought about this since prior to COVID,” he tells Connect CRE. “I’ve said before that there’s never a good time to take a vacation, but you just have to do it. And there was never really a good time to decide I’m going to ride my bike across the country. But no matter how indestructible we all think we are, I’m going to be 73 and I’m just not sure how many more years I will have the capability to do this. I said, ‘if I’m going to do it, now’s the time.’”
Strauss points out that this isn’t a cross-country race, it’s a cross-country ride, and that his goals are to get through the ride and to raise awareness of childhood food insecurity, which affects some 14 million American children. He says that because it isn’t immediately life-threatening in the way that cancer, gun violence or heart attacks often are, food insecurity may not produce the same emotional tug in the casual observer.
“I call it ‘the silent predator,’ and it’s pervasive,” says Strauss. “There are 14 million kids who may not know where their next meal is coming from.” He calls childhood hunger “an under-reported and under-covered problem, that can be worse in the summer months, especially in rural areas, when schools aren’t in session and therefore not providing breakfast and lunch.” He says, “Food is fundamental and its scarcity causes detrimental effects on children’s health, education, social behavior and earning capacity, all of which take a long-term economic and social toll on society.”
Although Strauss is spearheading the No Kid Hungry Ride, it won’t be a solo act. He’s gotten commitments from friends along the way to ride parts of the route with him, and others can sign up to ride segments at www.nokidhungryride.com under the Ride with Us menu. He will have an RV accompanying him, equipped with Starlink to enable him to stay in communication. Strauss has set up an Instagram account, nokidhungryride, so people can follow the journey and help spread the word via social media.
Along the way, “one of the things that we’re going to be doing is talking with beneficiary agencies of No Kid Hungry,” which has helped fund some three billion meals for children since 2020. “I’ll be trying to shine a light on the issue of childhood hunger and showcase local groups who are working to alleviate the issue and how support from No Kid Hungry has benefited them.”
The route has been mapped out, much of it along old Route 66, to avoid high elevations and muggy climates as much as possible. Yet cycling for nearly 3,400 miles represents a challenge regardless of age. Strauss has been preparing with a combination of both indoor and outdoor riding and strength training, six days a week.
With all the planning that has gone into the No Kid Hungry Ride, though, Strauss knows to expect the unexpected. “There will be things that happen along the way that I haven’t anticipated,” he says. The key is “to be flexible and to try to figure out how to adjust at the moment that you face those issues.” He adds, “Every day is going to be an adventure.”
At the time of this writing, 30 days before the ride commences, Strauss had raised approximately $465,000 toward the $1-million goal. If you would like to support his mission of working to end childhood hunger, visit www.nokidhungryride.com and click the donate button.
The post Mark Strauss Riding Coast to Coast to Combat Childhood Hunger appeared first on Connect CRE.
